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We'll actually lead-off with the last one in the subject line. Today more and more people are accessing the web via a smartphone and here at Astron Solutions, we understand the need to do so. So we've developed a new mobile site for you to use that should work very easily on your Blackberry, iPhone, Droid or other smartphone. Go to http://astronsolutionsworldofhr.blogspot.com/?m=1 and you should have a nice, clean mobile site to use. Eventually, you should be able to just go to our regular blog address and access the mobile site but for right now, that address is the best one to use.

If you work for or own a small business, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that things will start to look brighter in 2011...but old problems will still remain: "Companies, helped by a loosening in the credit markets as well as improvements in consumer spending, are showing some interest in raising prices and hiring new employees. But most improvements are expected to be marginal, likely benefiting only the healthiest small businesses while the rest continue to struggle, relying on survival tactics adopted during the recession, such as deep discounts to lure customers and operating with fewer hands."

Also before you start cheering the "great" unemployment data from today (the largest drop in unemployment since 1998), read this Forbes article and realize that unemployment rate is always a flawed figure: "The big drop in the unemployment rate did not come from all of the new jobs created (which were largely in hospitality and health care, with 25,000 new bartenders and waitresses minted in December and 36,000 health professionals finding work) but simply from the erasure of unemployed people from the rolls."

Stay dry on this snowy Friday and have a great weekend!

We here at Astron Solutions want to thank you again for making us an Apex Award Winner. This is our second year in a row winning this award and we couldn't do it without you, our loyal readers.

And please keep on visiting. Sign up for our e-mail updates, subscribe to our RSS feed, or just bookmark our blog. Whatever it takes, keep on coming back as we'll be giving you great articles all year long.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Happy Memorial Day from everyone at Astron Solutions. Hope you're enjoying your BBQ and honoring those who serve our country at home and abroad.

BusinessWeek looks at the Worst Jobs for the Best Pay. Ever.

It harks me back to one summer, when I had trouble finding a summer internship, I got offered an intern position at a local branch of a well-known, national real estate firm. The pay was pretty good and the job was about a 10 minute drive from my parent's place. The experience seemed like a great way to learn more about real estate and maybe segue into that market. They had my sister as a part-time administrative assistant and they liked her. It seemed perfect.

It wasn't.

A little background: I had just graduated from my undergraduate studies from a top 35 University. I was in the middle of a 5 year BA/MA program getting a Masters in International Economics and Finance. I had interned for 3 summers at Deutsche Bank in Private Wealth Management. I was hungry to get my hands on something new and try it out.

Here were my tasks my first two days there: copy, staple, create binders, empty folders, fill folders, answer phones...and the best of all: fix stuff. This was a pretty successful operation in the heart of Scarsdale, NY at the top of the real estate bubble and they had the cheapest office equipment around. Everything broke. The worst of which was the copy machine, which my boss told me repeatedly was my fault because "everyone knows you shouldn't copy more than 25 pages at a time in a copier". I wanted to kill myself.

In the middle of my third day, I got a call from Jennifer at Astron Solutions. We had the best interview of my entire life (to date) and I was hoping to get an offer from Astron. It finally came. Jennifer asked me if I had already gotten a job. I told her I had, but that I'd quit by the afternoon and be in first thing on Monday.

And I've been working, in some capacity, with Astron ever since.

Despite good pay was the worst job I ever had, but it also led to the best job ;)

One of our new segments on our bi-weekly newsletter, Astronology (see sign-up on the right) is the ishuffle. Although I won't give away which are my favorite, I will tell you the 10 songs that came up last on my iPod (actually an iPod Touch) as I was taking the train on Friday:

Kanye West - Through the Wire

Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static

Fallout Boy (feat. John Mayer) - Beat It

Madonna and Justin Timberlake (feat. Timbaland) - 4 Minutes

Rick Ross (feat. T-Pain) - The Boss

Lupe Fiasco - Hip-Hop Saved My Life

Journey - Don't Stop Believin'

Counting Crows - Rain King (Live from Soho)

N.E.R.D. - Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing on the Line...)

Dave Matthews (feat. Tim Reynolds) - Lie In Our Graves (Live at Radio City)

Stay tuned to Astronology for my reviews on these songs as well as the other picks from Astron employees...but figured it was a good way to "shuffle" things up a bit :)